We all need our money to go further, and often have to make trade-offs and compromises to strike a balance between price and performance. Cheap TVs are perhaps the most controversial technology purchases aimed at cutting costs. It's easy to show off the best TV: the 9-inch LG C77 OLED will wow you, as long as you can find a small fortune in the coin sitting under the sofa. But when it comes to budget, the competition is fierce, the margins are slim, and the tech specs can be staggering. What's the problem, for example, when you can buy a 4-inch Dolby Vision-compatible 55K TV from one manufacturer for the same price as a 43-inch Full HD TV from another? With the plethora of Amazon Prime Day deals just around the corner and Black Friday on the eve of the end of the year, what should you consider when shopping for a cheap TV? What are the essential features and what would you do best to ignore in your search for the ideal discount TV? We've met with critics from around the world, market analysts, and one of the world's most prolific TV manufacturers to help you answer this question.
Define what constitutes a "budget television".
Everyone's wallet is a different size. Defining what exactly constitutes cheap television can therefore be a delicate, if not a personal matter. Based on the experience of TechRadar reviews, to find cheap TVs worthy of the name, you'd expect a starting price of no less than $300/$300, with the $500/$500 markup a bit more exciting. We believe this price range is borne out by the sales figures, presented by Paul Gagnon, an analyst at IHS Markit. "Two thirds of TV shows in 2018 cost less than €500, and around 39%, less than €300," he said. "Even when looking at larger screens, just under a third of 50-and-over TV shows in 2018 sold for less than €500," showing that "budget" doesn't have to be considered as " little".The most budget-friendly TV brands.
You don't have to go to an AV store to find a cheap TV. Walmart supermarkets and hypermarkets will have shelves full of pocket TVs. But the brands may not be familiar and may not even be worth their "affordable" prices due to the audio and visual performance they offer. That said, even the big brands are notorious for offering lower-quality screens at lower prices: they're the scourge of TV critics, and manufacturers deliberately keep them out of reach for reviewers who want to try them. So which brands are the most consistent? According to our experts, this is a clash between Philips and Samsung. "Anyone can make a cheap TV, the trick is to create one you really want, combining a decent level of specs and performance with some kind of added value," said the local specialist. Steve May cinema. "For me, the brand that has consistently appealed to my budget is Philips. Not only do they manage to get a reliable level of performance out of their affordable 6 Series TVs, but they also add Ambilight, which is hard to resist, especially if you have a system intelligent Hue lighting that can relate to it." Vincent Teoh, TV critic and TV sender for HDTV Test, recommends choosing Samsung.
(Image credit: Samsung) "Samsung is the most consistent budget TV brand, though it doesn't want to be recognized as such. If a family member or friend asked me to recommend a TV under $500/$500 I would almost always suggest Samsung without QLED." How does Samsung attribute the key to its success in budget TV? It remains the "C" word - consistency. Samsung, a leader in low-end products and strives to keep the same software and apps, whatever the cost. "All of our TVs, regardless of whether they are Premium QLED 8K or UHD input, feature our brilliant, sleek and fast-to-use Smart TV platform that offers the widest range of apps, including all essential catch-up apps, Apple TV, BT Sports. (in the UK), which no other manufacturer has done yet," a Samsung spokesperson told TechRadar. "Also, unlike competitors who use Dolby only on their most premium products, Samsung (a) HDR10+ on all of their UHD TVs."
Budget in progress? Avoid HDR displays
So if Samsung and Philips are so reliable, where are the other brands going wrong with their TVs for the cheaper segment of the market? The quality of the panels can be a determining factor in the quality of TV on a budget, says John Archer, critic of home entertainment and TV technology. "A disproportionate number of budget TVs use so-called IPS (in-plane switching) LCD displays, which lack contrast and black levels compared to VA (vertical alignment) panel types," he says. "In general, budget TVs don't have enough brightness or contrast to convince with today's high dynamic range technology, making it boring and therefore less satisfying to watch than standard dynamic range. Cheap TVs do, too. They tend to have a hard time displaying motion, shake, or blur due to screen response time and video processing."
(Image credit: Dolby) Poor HDR performance is also a favorite theme of Steve May's, as is the sometimes misleading markup of the feature on a datasheet: "The important thing, when buying on a budget, is not to take the spec at face value. Many budget 4K panels carry an HDR badge on the box. This doesn't mean, I repeat NO, that they offer decent HDR performance. They're just not bright enough to offer true specular highlights. At best In most cases, these devices are HDR-capable, which means they know they're receiving an HDR signal."HDR on a cheap TV can often look worse than when using standard dynamic range, because the device will try to give a tonal mapping, which simply involves lowering the overall level of the image, just to highlight one or more strong points. . " "This is why I would like to see cheaper TVs appear at even lower prices without worrying about HDR," says Archer. In simple terms, "forget about HDR at this price," warns Vincent Teoh. And above all, "Don't be fooled by expensive HDMI cables or warranties usually imposed by stores," says Teoh.In terms of cabling, they're really no better than the inexpensive solutions found online and often recommended as part of a shop at the store simply because "the profit margins are the highest for these accessories."
Features and Specs: What to Look for in a Budget TV
So HDR, at least for the moment, is no-budget TV terrain. However, 4K picture quality can still be very effective on cheaper TVs, as long as you use the correct panel and image processing software used. "Today, most TVs 50 inches and over are 4K and about half of TVs between 40 and 50 inches (UHD). So 4K has now become a fairly common feature even in entry-level TVs," notes IHS's Gagnon. Manage your expectations, says Steve May, and you'll be surprised at the level of functionality you can get. "You're not going to get maximum performance, but the functionality can be top-notch," he says. "Buy a game with a decent smart platform that offers all the streaming services you want. I would always choose a screen with a Freeview Play tuner (for UK audiences). At least you know your update services won't run out when the manufacturer of TVs lose interest in the smart platform you've sold them."
(Image credit: Samsung) When choosing a smart platform, research the processing chip used by the future TV. If the chip is fast, navigation in applications will be smoother and their performance more reliable. If it's a lower-quality chipset, you risk being frustrated by its slowness, which can hurt budget TVs. "Built-in smart features are an important feature for most homes now," Archer admits, but cautions that they "may have very limited reach on low-cost TVs." "If you have the specific apps you want, such as Netflix, Amazon, and the update services for terrestrial broadcasters in your country, make sure any model you plan to buy is compatible with them." image, if you really want to see HDR on a cheap TV, pay attention to brightness and contrast if you can see them in a store. LED TVs placed directly behind the screen rather than at the edges tend to work better with HDR technology. In reality, however, if your budget is really tight, it may be better to choose a TV that only supports 4K or even HD without HDR. But what about all these boxes, game consoles for Blu-ray players, that will be attached to the TV? Archer recommends taking a look at the back of an inexpensive TV you want to buy, as well as the front of it, since which could be a way to cut costs in a dubious way. : "Think connectivity. Make sure any TV you buy has enough connections, which usually means HDMI connections these days, to handle all the sources you want to connect to. "